Date: Fri, 24 Nov 2006 13:06:26 -0800 (PST)
Subject: 16 degrees C = 61 degrees F... just flip the digits.
Guten tag,
When the pilot of my flight from Dallas-Zurich made his pre-landing
announcement, he said he remembered that temperature calculation from a flight
he had taken as a kid and his pilot had made that same announcement. The
temperature in Zurich this morning was a cool and comfortable 16 degrees
celsius, or 61 degrees Farenheit. Broken clouds. All the mountain peaks to the
south visible above the cloudline. And a gorgeous orange and purple sunrise!
So after landing, I went to the arrivals lounge at ZRH (first time I had been
here -- they have a private room you can go into with a recliner and pillow and
blanket!) -- and went to sleep for a good 2 hours. I had not gotten any sleep
on the plane (thats a first for me on any transoceanic flight). After getting
some shuteye there it was a walk through customs without anyone asking me
anything (another first), then lingered at the airport a while longer (yet
another first for European trips). My train to Innsbruck, Austria -- which is
where I am now -- was scheduled to depart at 13.40 HRS (that's 1:40 PM for all
you Americans).
I have a eurail pass this time (another first) that I'm using on this trip and
the Italian trip next month. I took several trains back and forth from the
airport to the city's main train station -- I think I made that roundtrip 3
times. No particular reason -- I just wanted to pass the time until the
departure to Innsbruck, and it was all covered by the pass. But the scenery is
also quite good here if you sit on the left side of the train while travelling
southbound.
The Innsbruck train departed precisely on schedule -- 13.40. And I had the
whole coach practically to myself for majority of the journey! The train is one
of the most scenic I have ever taken -- first next to Zurichsee (Lake Zurich),
then crossing the mighty Alps into Austria. I took more than 100 pictures,
about 60 of which are "good"... Unfortunately it got dark around 4:30pm (I miss
Alaska!) and once the lights were on inside, they were creating too much
reflection in the windows to take any decent photographs! But the scenery is
fantastic, and I'm looking forward to seeing it again tomorrow in broad
daylight!
The train arrived in Innsbruck precisely on schedule -- 17.20. 3 hours 40
minutes journey with several stops along the way, and the timing was accurate
to the minute! That's the Swiss for ya!
So now I'm in Innsbruck, there is snow on all the mountaintops surrounding the
city, and all the christmas lights are up. I should do this train thing more
often... no need to worry about navigating through tiny city streets with no
roadsigns, trying to find parking, or trying to figure out how to open the damn
gas tank door! I could get used to this!
Speaking of which, I need to get used to sleeping again - I'm going on about 6
total hours of sleep since leaving home on Wednesday night! (mmmmmmmmm... Red
Bull!) I know -- not so good considering I've been sick last couple of
weeks.... but I realized today how much I had missed the Alps! I haven't seen
them in more than a year!
The pictures are not up on the website yet -- I'm still working on those.
oh and by the way, I'm back in Europe again. :-D
gutenabend,
me.
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| Contents | November 25 |